Did you notice behavior changes during the eclipse?

The chorus frogs were very active during totality, it was really cool.

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I was in Indianapolis. I saw 2 bats during totality and my husband also reported “a couple” of bats. We were in a friend’s backyard. The resident songbirds got noticeably quieter during totality. But, like many here, I was so focused on the sun that I didn’t want to spare more than a few seconds on anything else.
This Alaskan found the experience of totality completely mind-blowing, like a portal into another universe. I cried!

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In Brady Lake Park near Brady TX the Lark Sparrows, Mockingbirds, House Finches, Bells Vireo, and Cardinals among other bird species seemed to quiet down completely at totality. But they were back singing as the sun mostly had returned. Great experience, second total I’ve seen including the one in 2017.

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I heard crickets and frogs once totality started, and they continued for several minutes after it ended.

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What I think would be interesting is if people looked for changes in plant “behavior.” Some genera of Araceae, for instance, exhibit female anthesis one night, and male anthesis the following night. It would be interesting if these plants respond to totality the way they would to nighttime. Does the eclipse trigger anthesis?

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A teacher friend used the Merlin Sound ID app during the eclipse. You can see the that during totality, the app was not recording any bird song.

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There was a bunch of blue-eyed grass where I was, and I initially intended to try to see if they would close up at all for totality.

Unfortunately, it was so cloudy the day of that in the morning, the flowers hadn’t really opened up all that much before hand. The sky opened up amazingly beautifully about 5 minutes before totality, but at that point I was not focused on checking on the flowers.

I do think this would be really interesting to study, but you really would have to set up cameras ahead of time.

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There was a study on this at Granby Zoo, near Montreal.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/quebec-zoo-examined-animal-behaviour-during-last-weeks-total-solar-eclipse/ar-BB1lAPng

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That’s really interesting! Thanks for posting that link. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Article about this topic by NPR:
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/25/1246957093/total-solar-eclipse-stressed-animals-out

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Wow! Lots to think about from that article!

@fuzzyspider watched Leucauge venusta (orchard orb-weaver) behave before, during, and after totality. The spider first sat in the web hub, but during totality (as if it was night), it started to disassemble its web so it could rebuild it. After totality and everywhere started getting brighter, the spider stopped and returned to the hub of the now-disassembled web.
Leucauge venusta (Orchard Orbweaver) from Lombardo Park, Valley View, OH, US on April 8, 2024 at 03:14 PM by fuzzyspider. observed during a total solar eclipse, during totality before totality: http://www.inaturalis… · iNaturalist

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I saw caddisflies emerging from the river approaching totality. The temp change and the dimming probably worked together